cyclists on the road

[jules]

according to our tour de france runner up cadel evans, aussie drivers are the worst in the world from a cyclists' perspective.

i used to do a lot of cycling when i was younger (and fitter) and competing in amateur road racing. while i've never cycled overseas, i'd have to agree a lot of aussie drivers just don't care whether you live or die when you're on your bike. they know too well that "oops" is a perfectly acceptable excuse.

a lot of cyclists are complete idiots, i've got to admit. when i rode, i learned to be assertive on the road, but in a disciplined manner that minimised the risk of my sharing the road with other cars, as well as the inconvenience i caused them. i made my own 'rules', drawing on the experience of 1000s of km of on road training and never got hit by a car during that time (despite some unbelievable stuff i saw on the part of some drivers).

many cyclists don't have much experience and just go out to the shops every now and then. i see a lot of stupidity that results from that. pulling out into the lane from behind a parked car without even looking to see if there was room was one suicidal move a cyclist tried on me the other day.

but that doesn't mean it's ok for drivers to behave like idiots as well.
what do you reckon?

[greenfoam]

What I think is that as a car driver you should allways remember that you have the least right to be on the road, since it's the least natural and worse resource waster of jsut about any form of travel. Pedestrians should allways come first, then Cyclists then after all those guys are safe and on there way you can do your stuff in a car. After many years of walking around and riding that's how I feel about it

[Emackulation]

I haven't had too much trouble with cyclists, but I do need to ask why do they continue to ride on the roads when we supply them with perfectly good shared pathways for them? The y are most annoying when they ride in groups and don't bother to form a single lane when a car is approaching, they would rather sit 2/3 abreast.

[Kikki]

Teenagers on BMX's bother me.... no helmet and no respect, they jump out in front of cars, aparently its "funny" to make a car slam its breaks on... well its not!

Cyclists, as in tight shorts lol I dont have an issue with as long as they dont cut in front of me (which has happened a few times) and its bloody dangerous, and as long as they do the whole single file then good. As long as they obey the rules then so should drivers, I know my dad use to drive his Semi through Melbourne and had a few altercations (on his part) he hates them and will do anything to annoy the **** out of them, which is plain stupid.

They have as much right to the road as us drivers do.

[Kikki]

I haven't had too much trouble with cyclists, but I do need to ask why do they continue to ride on the roads when we supply them with perfectly good shared pathways for them? The y are most annoying when they ride in groups and don't bother to form a single lane when a car is approaching, they would rather sit 2/3 abreast.

Last I was told it is actually illegal for a bike to ride on a Footpath unless it specifies (signs) that it is a shared pathway, and there isnt many of those here. I know lots of people who ride there bikes to work etc and have no choice to use the road for the above reason.

[jules]

They are most annoying when they ride in groups and don't bother to form a single lane when a car is approaching, they would rather sit 2/3 abreast.

the reason for this is that on many roads, riding in single file invites drivers to squeeze past at full speed, when there isn't really room, instead of changing lanes. this makes it more likely for the rider to get cleaned up.

this is why it's legal to ride two abreast. personally i never really felt comfortable doing that, and mostly rode on my own anyway, although the logic is there.

[Bravotwozero]

I'll happily share the roads with cyclists when they have to cough up for rego like the rest of us!

They're bloody everywhere where I live.

[Troy711]

what annoys me is when they ride 2 wide on tight roads with blind corners

[Emackulation]

Last I was told it is actually illegal for a bike to ride on a Footpath unless it specifies (signs) that it is a shared pathway, and there isnt many of those here. I know lots of people who ride there bikes to work etc and have no choice to use the road for the above reason.

Yeah you are right with them not allowed to be on the footpath unless signed. I work for a council and design shared pathways, I always see them riding on the road instead of the empty pathway.

[Rufus®]

What I think is that as a car driver you should allways remember that you have the least right to be on the road, since it's the least natural and worse resource waster of jsut about any form of travel. Pedestrians should allways come first, then Cyclists then after all those guys are safe and on there way you can do your stuff in a car. After many years of walking around and riding that's how I feel about it

I would have though cars had the most right to be on the road. we pay rego, some of which goes towards the cost of building and maintaining roads.

Pedestrians have footpaths to walk on.

I live in an area where a lot of cyclists travel, these are 100km roads with doudle lines and little visibility around corners. when you have cyclists sitting 2-3 abreast WTF are you supposed to do, hit the anchors and hope that they don't do too much damage to your car?

Then we have single lane roads, ie, there isn't enough room to have 2 cars pass without using the shoulders, so they sit 2-3 abreast taking the entire width of the road and force oncoming traffic and passing traffic to use the opposite shoulder as well. which is actually ok, cause i like to sit on the shoulder and kick up as much dust as possible so they have a super fine ride.

It is actually about time cyclists were held accountable for their actions, failing to stop at intersections/ red lights / giving way to pedestrians. It would be interesting to see how many accident were caused by cyclists too, i know i've had one thanks to some dick that failed to give way (unfortunately the cyclist wasn't injured, nor did they stop).

Okay so i don't actually want to see people injured, but they do need to be held accountable, compulsory rego??

[stocky]

it annoys me when i see a cyclist riding on a busy 2 lane road (stud road for those in vic), with no bike lane holding up traffic. 2 lanes of cars have to merge into one because there is a cyclist on the road. now, to the left of the road, running parallel, is a dedicated bike track. why cant they ride on that instead of choosing to annoy every motorist on the road?

[welly01]

I'll happily share the roads with cyclists when they have to cough up for rego like the rest of us!

They're bloody everywhere where I live.

thats larfable .. just like there are a few idiots on bikes .. there are way more idiots in cars ..what you gonna do !..pay rego on your kids bikes so they can ride to school ( if u have any ) thats just a stupid statement to make ..bit like ..if i cant have one he cant either attitude !!
i see you drive a monaro .. wouldnt have been cheap ay .. glad you could afford it .. maybe some of these people on bikes cant afford the big flashy cars and dont desire to get themselves into major debt just so they can get from a to b ..in fact i tip my hat to these people they arent the ones that are polluting the air we breath or wasting resources just to go for are joy ride are they now !!

[Sabbath']

Cyclists need to learn that they can crap on about having "As much right as anybody to be on the roads" as much as they like, but at the end of the day, its their actions which cause them to get killed or injured, as much as it is drivers fault in some cases.

I've seen a cyclist, going up Lonsdale street, with one hand on on the boot spoiler of an SS Commodore.

Also saw a cyclist get done by two cops on bikes for going through a red light

[jules]

Cyclists need to learn that they can crap on about having "As much right as anybody to be on the roads" as much as they like, but at the end of the day, its their actions which cause them to get killed or injured, as much as it is drivers fault in some cases.

my experience is that you're right, but in other cases it's just the driver's fault. drivers and cyclists both need to do the right thing. pretty obvious really.

[Sabbath']

thmaybe some of these people on bikes cant afford the big flashy cars and dont desire to get themselves into major debt just so they can get from a to b ..in fact i tip my hat to these people they arent the ones that are polluting the air we breath or wasting resources just to go for are joy ride are they now !!

Saving for a car isnt that hard. Also, if cyclists are so happy to not pollute the air, then they should be happy not to use our electric powered train network, because, Electricity is the biggest cause of greenhouse gas emissions, at over 50% of australia's emissions coming from Electricity and something in the form of 14% coming from motor vehicles.

[AttaBoy]

Sharing the road with cars is why I'm scared to ride a bike any where especially to work. I just don't feel safe. I rather just take the car even though it will cost more. I rather be safe.

[calais_304]

thats larfable .. just like there are a few idiots on bikes .. there are way more idiots in cars ..what you gonna do !..pay rego on your kids bikes so they can ride to school ( if u have any ) thats just a stupid statement to make ..bit like ..if i cant have one he cant either attitude !!
i see you drive a monaro .. wouldnt have been cheap ay .. glad you could afford it .. maybe some of these people on bikes cant afford the big flashy cars and dont desire to get themselves into major debt just so they can get from a to b ..in fact i tip my hat to these people they arent the ones that are polluting the air we breath or wasting resources just to go for are joy ride are they now !!

i think it's great there on the road...gives me n my mates something to throw stuff at on boring drives, the more cyclist on the road the more fun im bound to have

keep it up

[Kikki]

Seems us Perthies seem to like sharing the road a little more than others

[Bravotwozero]

thats larfable .. just like there are a few idiots on bikes .. there are way more idiots in cars ..what you gonna do !..pay rego on your kids bikes so they can ride to school ( if u have any ) thats just a stupid statement to make ..bit like ..if i cant have one he cant either attitude !!
i see you drive a monaro .. wouldnt have been cheap ay .. glad you could afford it .. maybe some of these people on bikes cant afford the big flashy cars and dont desire to get themselves into major debt just so they can get from a to b ..in fact i tip my hat to these people they arent the ones that are polluting the air we breath or wasting resources just to go for are joy ride are they now !!

Hey I have to pay TAC premiums in my reg so I'm covered for personal injury if I'm injured in a road accident. Do you think it is fair for a cyclist to be entitled to the same cover without also paying a premium? Hey I have no problems sharing the roads with bikes but they should pay for the privilege just like everybody else.

[jules]

technically you only pay a TAC premium for 3rd party injury insurance, not for yourself. why that is i'm not exactly sure.

the 3rd party premium for cyclists would be so low that it would cost more to collect it than it would raise.

[Kikki]

I think with conditions of course, cyclists should pay some kind of fee/rego. BUT think about it, why do we have to pay? because our cars cause wear & tear on the road, which bikes dont. Although make them have little rego plates LMAO so when they do cut someone off or break a rule we have some way of dobbing them in for being unsafe, after all I'm sure they dob a driver in.

[Bravotwozero]

actually you pay a TAC premium for 3rd party injury insurance, not for yourself.

Same **** different bucket. Every other road user gets slugged so why should cyclists be exempt?

[jules]

cyclists actually save us all money by reducing congestion and road wear. it doesn't make sense to charge them for rego, other than as a "let's get 'em" thing as we see here.

[welly01]

i think it's great there on the road...gives me n my mates something to throw stuff at on boring drives, the more cyclist on the road the more fun im bound to have

keep it up

you and your mates !!! .. pretty much sums you up then doesnt it .. keep it up ay and you will probably find yourself on the recieving end of a group of bike fanatics fists one day .. that should liven your day up lol

[welly01]

cyclists actually save us all money by reducing congestion and road wear. it doesn't make sense to charge them for rego, other than as a "let's get 'em" thing as we see here.

ah ha .. you can see the big picture